My whole life I’ve wondered what all the fuss was about fruitcake. I’ve heard all the jokes, especially the one that states that there is one fruitcake in the world and that it keeps getting re-gifted. But, up until a few years ago, I really couldn’t tell you that I had ever really eaten fruitcake. It never appealed to me. The neon orange, red, and green dried fruits always freaked me out, and since I mostly prefer chocolate desserts, I just steered clear of the whole thing. (Clearly this is a pattern with me–I seemed to have done this a lot as a younger person.)
Of course, after being diagnosed as gluten-intolerant and therefore not being able to eat it any old time I want, I desperately wanted to try it. Especially since I am an Anglophile through and through and it seemed as though everyone in literary England was making it and eating it. For years, I collected recipes, intending to adapt one to gluten-free. But I never found one that appealed to me. Then, one day a few years ago, I was reading one of my favorite cooking memoirs/cookbooks of all time, Laurie Colwin’s More Home Cooking: A Writer Returns to the Kitchen and there was the recipe I needed: Country Christmas Cake. The recipe was adapted by Colwin from Jane Grigson’s English Food. It looked good, it was made from quality ingredients, and it was fairly easy to make.
If you’ve never read anything by Colwin, please go out and get something by her. She holds a place in my pantheon of Cooking Goddesses. I love her writing. She was a writer for Gourmet magazine for years, and she wrote 2 books of essays on food, Home Cooking: A Writer in the Kitchen (one of my favorite cookbook/memoirs of all time), as well as More Home Cooking. She also wrote several novels. I loved her style and wit. She died suddenly of a heart attack in 1992 at the young age of 48. I still remember hearing about her death and being so shocked and sad.
This cake has no neon fruit–only lovely dried fruit, plus some marmalade, jam, some applesauce, and, of course, booze. It was originally intended to keep for a couple of months in the pantry. Thus far, I’ve only kept it for about a week to mellow. It’s so popular, it goes rather quickly in my house. You can try to let it mellow for longer (which would be more authentic) and see how it goes. The liquor added at the end helps to preserve it as it mellows on the counter. Hence the term “decanting” when you remove the cake from its wrappings. If you don’t use liquor, I suggest you use a juice of some sort to add the extra moisture–and make this only a day or two before you serve it.
The main work of this cake is gathering the dried fruits. You need a lot! But, once you’ve done that, the cake is quite easy. This cake is made over the course of 2 days–one day to mix the fruit and leave overnight to macerate (meld the flavors); and then the next day to bake it. At the end, you will have yourself a 6 lb cake (yes, I weighed it)–wow! I serve this either for Christmas Eve dinner or Christmas dinner. Well, we actually serve it any old time I want. You decide how you want to serve it. It’s also quite good as a breakfast cake. This is dedicated to Granddude, my father-in-law, who is an appreciator of good fruitcake and who has given his seal of approval to this cake.
Country Christmas Cake
-adapted from More Home Cooking
Special Equipment Needed
-stand mixer, although a hand mixer will do
-9.5 or 10 inch springform pan
-parchment paper
-wax paper
-plastic wrap
Ingredients
Fruits, Jam and Sherry–you will use these one Day 1 of the process
2 1/2 lbs (1.2 kg) mixed raisins, pitted prunes, and dried figs
1/2 cup (60 g) candied orange and/or lemon peel
1/2 cup (60 g) candied cherries
2/3 cup (85 g) candied or preserved ginger
Grated zest and juice of 1 large lemon
Grated zest and juice of 1 large orange
1 tablespoon orange marmalade
1 tablespoon apricot jam
1 cup (240 ml) applesauce
2 tablespoons of sweet Sherry (or juice for a non-alcoholic version)
(you can also experiment with your own mixture of dried fruits–just be sure total weight is the same)
*******
Dry Ingredients–you will use these on Day 2 of the process
3 cups (435 g) Jeanne’s Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour Mix
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon allspice
1 tablespoon aluminum-free double-acting baking powder
*******
Butter, Sugar, Eggs, and Vanilla–you will use these on Day 2 of the process
1 cup (2 sticks; 8 oz; 225 g) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (215 g) dark brown sugar
4 extra-large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons brandy or whiskey (or juice) for adding after the cake bakes
Chop up fine and mix together the first set of ingredients (fruits, jam, and Sherry). Cover and leave in a covered bowl on the counter overnight to macerate–become softened by soaking and to meld the flavors. Feel free to slap the hand of anyone (say, a husband) who comes by and tries to snack on the mixture. Also, you may macerate this for a week or more. I had a chat with chef Kathy Casey about this, and she told me that she macerates the fruit for her fruitcakes for about a week.
Then next day (or whenever you’re ready to make the cake):
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F/165 degrees C/Gas Mark 3
-in a medium bowl, mix the next set of ingredients (dry ingredients); set aside
-in the bowl of stand mixer, beat butter until fluffy
-add brown sugar, beat more
-add vanilla, continue beating
-add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition
-add flour mixture, beating until just combined (do not overmix)
With a large wooden spoon, combine fruit with the batter. This requires a bit of upper body strength. Luckily, you can count this as your exercise for the day.
Grease bottom and sides of springform pan with butter. Then line the bottom of springform pan with 3 layers of parchment, and the sides with 1 layer of parchment paper
-pour in the batter
-bake at 325 degrees F for 2 hours, then reduce heat to 300 degrees F/150 degrees C/Gas mark 2 and bake another 2 hours or until tester comes out clean
-you might want to use a piece of aluminum foil as a tent over the cake for the last 2 hours–so it doesn’t burn.
Remove from oven, pierce the cake all over with a skewer and pour over it 2 TBL brandy or whiskey (you can use more if that’s to your taste)
-leave to cool in the pan
-when completely cool, remove it, peel off the parchment paper, and wrap the cake in wax paper and place it in an airtight tin (or a few layers of plastic wrap), and leave it for a few days
-When the time comes to “decant” the cake (take it out of its wrappings), it is traditional to glaze it with some nice jelly (although we just eat it as it is)
Serve on Christmas Eve or on Christmas as a rich cake. Or throughout the holiday season. Leftover slices may be toasted and eaten with butter and jam for breakfast.
Enjoy!
Note: If you use a different gluten-free flour mix, alter the amount of or eliminate the xanthan gum or use a different gluten-replacer, use dairy-free or egg-free substitutes, or change any other ingredients in this recipe, your results may not match my results.
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Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2013 Jeanne Sauvage
Hello! I made this fruitcake last week. I followed the recipe as directed except that I put about 4 TB instead of 2 TB of brandy into the fruit mixture.
I noticed that the top of the cake started to brown within the first 20 minutes of baking, and it continued getting more and more brown. After one hour of baking, I turned the oven down to 300. After two hours, I turned it down to 275 and put foil over the top. I ended up removing the cake from the oven after 3 hours since the top looked quite dark brown and looked and smelled very done.
I pierced it with a skewer and added the brandy, and then wrapped it up for 3 days.
The middle parts of the cake taste delicious, but sadly, the top, sides and bottom taste burnt! It’s a shame after chopping up all those pounds of fruit!
Do you think it’s because I put too much brandy in the fruit mixture? Or maybe because we have a gas oven?
Thanks!
Emma: do you have an oven thermometer in your oven? I mean, one that you buy separately? If not, get one and see how your oven is heating. I’m thinking that it might be heating hotter than the dial says. Put the oven thermometer in and preheat the oven to 350. After 30 minutes, see if it reads 350? Try the same test for a few temperatures, including the one for this recipe.
Thanks! I’ll get a thermometer and check it out! The middle parts of the cake were delicious and I received tonnes of rave reviews!
Emma: Yay!
I used Cherry Brandy instead. Actually used 1/2 cup and soaked the fruit for a week. I watched the baking time as I used a 10 round pan. Can’t remember how long I baked it for … but it turned out great! Punched holes in it and added more cherry brandy. Actually have added a bit each week. It is frozen now … I take a bit out a week – for me! Love it ..
Caroline: Sounds delicious!
Hi Jeanine,
I made this cake and it was it was delicious, however, I found that it had a bit of a tough exterior, such that you had to press in to cut it, but it was not rubbery or chewy in the mouth. Do you know what may have caused that or is that the regular finish of this cake. Also, I pureed my fruits so they looked a lot like a jam. I was able to get 2 cakes from this mixture not one, 1 8 inch and a smaller one.
Rianne: The weird texture is probably due to the fact that you pureed the dried fruits. The dried fruits are supposed to dot the inside of the cake kind of like chocolate chips in a chocolate chip cookie. What you did was turn them into part of the structure of the cake–which causes things to be weird. Also, putting the cake into two pans will have an affect on the texture. This is meant to be a big, heavy cake dotted with dried fruits.
I made this cake for Christmas. Everyone loved it. I did not use the candied ginger because I just don’t like it, so I substituted extra dried blueberries. I baked it in a non stick bundt pan and buttered the pan heavily, but did not line it with parchment or foil. There was no sticking at all. It popped right out. I used ameratto to soak the fruit and sprinkle on the cloth that covered the cake. Next year I am going to make it again, but let it sit longer. I just made it a few days in advance this year. I’m also going to add chopped Brazil nuts next time, just because I really like them!
Donna: Yay! Sounds good!
Missing my Mom …. and we are coming up to Christmas … and I am missing her fruit cake! I love the looks of this recipe and it seems to be a lot like the one she made. So, off to the store to buy ingredients and make my first GF Christmas cake.
I suppose I will have to freeze it after a few weeks of soaking in sherry …. as it is 10 weeks until Christmas and not sure the GF cakes last on a counter for that long.
Caroline: I would recommend that you make it closer to Christmas. Also, I’m so sorry about your mom. I miss mine on the holidays as well. 🙂
Jeanne,
I have a great fruit cake recipe that I would love to send you to look at. I am not the author though. Would you be interested in seeing it?
Thanks for all you do for GF people!
Marie Jensen
Marie: Sure. Also let me know what is it you want me to comment on. 🙂
Having extra layers of parchment prevent the cake from burning being in the oven for such a long time. Also, we usually put a circle on the top of the cake with a hole in the middle tolet out any steam. Also, we wrap the cake tin in either parchment or brown paper and tie it with string – another prevention!
I use a ready made GF mix in UK but have found the texture a bit gritty, do you have any suggestions to get rid of that? It uses Rice, Potato, Tapioca, Maize & Buckwheat flours.
Karen: I think the buckwheat flour in the mix adds to the grittiness–it is a gritty flour. The other flour that might add grittiness is rice flour if it isn’t ground fine. Also, thanks so much for the tips!!
I have always liked fruitcake, so this recipe sounds great to me. Just wondering, why do you use three layers of parchment on the bottom of the pan instead of just one. Also, how long can you leave it in the can before decanting and long does it keep after decanting. Thanks.
May1Girl: You know, I’m not sure what the specific reason is for having 3 layers of parchment paper. I think it originally it had something to do with how heavy the batter is and how long it bakes. I’ve just always done it that way. You can do one layer and see how it goes. Also, I usually “decant” it right away. If you want to put it in a can and leave it there for a long time (like with traditional fruitcakes), you would have to douse it with liquor on a regular basis. Again, you can experiment with this. Also, we’ve never had it around for more than a week once it’s unwrapped–I usually make it and serve it during a time when lots of people are going to eat it. So sorry for the lack of information on this. I would experiment. You could also make it and then freeze part of it for later.
There is a misconception in this country (US) that things go “bad” very quickly, but with regard to fruitcake, you do NOT need to douse it all the time. Typically, fruitcake is doused for a little while after baking, but once dressed (marzipan and icing) that’s it! It sits on the sideboard, and is a lovely treat throughout the season – it will last over a month. Remember, the fruits are all soaked in rum/brandy already (in many cases, for 3 months or more prior to baking).
Jane: Greetings! You are absolutely correct for a wheat cake. But gluten-free cakes often tend to dry out much more quickly. Even with the alcohol. So, I usually recommend that folks not keep it sitting for 3 months. 🙂